CHESAPEAKE — Carson Hunt was a teen living in Jackson County when he discovered the beauty and serenity of Symmes Creek. Then he would spend hours pulling blue gill and carp out of the waters.

Nowadays it’s the inedible that Hunt, a local photographer and framer, wants out of the creek and he will join fellow nature enthusiasts Saturday for the annual Symmes Creek Canoe Caper.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. volunteers will gather at the boat ramp at Chesapeake with their canoes. Then around 10 a.m. boaters will hit the water going upstream for about a mile pulling trash out of the waters.

By 11 a.m. they’ll come back to the boat ramp, empty the trash out of their canoes and get ready for a hearty lunch.

On the menu will be corn bread and beans, provided by Richard Booth, and hot dogs and chips, provided by Boy Scout Troop 115 of South Point. This troop has put in hours repairing and cleaning up the boat ramp.

During the lunch musician Terry Duncan of Mansfield, will play blues on the guitar and harmonica. The event will conclude with several raffles, including one for a canoe donated by the Wild Turkey Federation and a framed photographic print taken by Hunt.

The caper has been going on for 12 years and open to anyone who wants to keep Symmes Creek clean.

“It’s all about drawing attention to Symmes Creek,” Grayson Thornton, chairman of the Symmes Creek Restoration Trustees, said.